August 2016 Archive

Today, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2016 Third Quarter Housing Forecast Update. Residential sales are forecast to climb 10.4% to a record level of 113,000 units for 2016, which surpasses the record of 106,310 that was set back in 2005. However, demand is expecting to slow next year by nearly 8 percent to 104,400 units, while it still remains above the ten-year average of 85,000 sales per year.

"The introduction of a 15 per cent tax on foreign national home buyers in Metro Vancouver is expected to accelerate a moderating trend in the market that began earlier in the year," said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. "However, other regions of the province are performing above expectations and at the provincial level, largely offsetting Metro Vancouver's deceleration."

Average residential prices in the province are forecast to continue to increase 11% to $706,900 this year, and another 5.2% in 2017.